Fall 2013

Gov. Patrick, unlike his predecessors, doesn't use his press room to talk to the press

For decades, whoever occupied the third-floor corner office at the State House would hop into the elevator outside his (or, in the case of Gov. Jane Swift, her) suite to go down to Room 157, the first-floor room designed for press conferences. That, however, has changed dramatically under Gov. Deval Patrick, who seems to prefer(...)

The state's own 1 percent

The 1 percent lost a little footing last year in the state’s workforce. According to records, the number of state employees earning more than $250,000 a year dropped from 72 in 2012 to 62 this year. Employees at the University of Massa­chusetts dominate the big-ticket earners, with all but four of the 62 members of(...)

Boston's fees for restaurants using city sidewalks for dining is in need of updating

The city of Boston rents its sidewalks for outside dining to more than 50 restaurants using a fee structure that is getting poor reviews from budget watchdogs and economists. The base fees the city charges restaurants for using sidewalk space haven’t changed since the program’s inception 13 years ago, even though a lot has changed(...)

One minority group that seems to be moving assertively into Greater Boston’s power structure is Asians

One minority group that seems to be moving assertively into Greater Boston’s power structure is Asians. They are making stronger inroads in the workplace than blacks and Hispanics, who outnumber them significantly. Census data indicate Asians represent 9 percent of Boston’s population, compared to 18 percent for Hispanics and 22 percent for blacks. Despite their(...)

The minority hiring records of the state of Massachusetts and the city of Boston are both relatively good

The minority hiring records of the state of Massachusetts and the city of Boston are both relatively good, a sharp contrast to most companies in the private sector. State records for fiscal 2012 indicate that nearly a quarter of the 44,445 executive branch employees are minorities, three times the percentage in 1983 when the Globe(...)

'Honestly, we're not where we want to be'

Nutter McClennen & Fish, one of the largest law firms in Boston, is proud to point to the fact it was founded way back in 1879 by renowned Supreme Court justice Louis Brandeis. In an interview, managing partner Deborah Manus is quick to quote Brandeis: “In differentiation, not in uniformity, lies the path of progress.”(...)

Environmentalists want to kill off Brayton Point. The Patrick administration says let the market do the dirty work.

Jay O’Hara didn’t have to see the gun to get spooked. The sound of the bullet hitting the chamber of a police officer’s rifle was enough. “I heard the bolt action of the rifle over my shoulder,” O’Hara recalls. “It wasn’t pointed, but it’s locked and loaded. It’s an unmistakable, chilling sound.” O’Hara, a 31-year-old(...)

Despite talk of ‘valuing diversity,’ as well as the encouraging ways that Boston has opened up, the region’s power structure still largely excludes blacks and Hispanics

Boston has come a long way since the days of school busing in the 1970s. The city is far more racially diverse, with blacks, Hispanics, Asians, and other minority groups now accounting for more than half of the city’s population, up from less than a third in 1980. Signs of that diversity are growing. We(...)

Boston’s Renaissance charter school hits another bump. Is it back on track?

It was an unwelcome, but not unfamiliar, spot for the Renaissance Charter Public School to find itself in. In February, the state Board of Elemen­tary and Secondary Education voted for the second time to place the Boston school on probation because of faltering student achievement. It’s been a long, up and down ride for Renais­sance,(...)

William Lantigua has become a pariah statewide but in Lawrence, the Teflon mayor is fighting for four more years.

“Who are you?” Lawrence Mayor William Lantigua is not happy to see a reporter in his downtown campaign headquarters, much less one who has dropped in unannounced and is busy snapping his picture. The Essex Street storefront, bustling with volunteers on a Friday afternoon before the preliminary election, quiets down. The mayor stops stacking envelopes(...)